Sound confining typewriter cover

ABSTRACT

A sound confining cover for mounting on the housing of a typewriter including side walls having pins therein for insertion into holes in the typewriter housing, a link on the cover for engaging the bail actuating tab within the housing, said link including a portion external of said cover so that said bail can be manipulated from outside of said housing, and a door hingedly attached to the remainder of the cover for permitting selective access to the area within said cover.

United States Patent 1 1 1111 3,912,069 Faulhaber 1 Oct. 14, 1975 [54]SOUND CONFINING TYPEWRITER C()VER 2,351,725 6/1944 Wack 197/186B UX3,122,228 2 1964 D01] 197 186 R [761 Inventor: Robe" Faulhaber 642Aurora 3 513 938 551970 l97/l 86 B in Lancaster, NY. 14086 i [22] Filed:Aug. 12, 1974 Primary Examiner l-larland S. Skogquist A F P. pp No.:496,340 Attorney, gent, 0r zrm Joseph Gastel 6 8 [57] ABSTRACT [52] US.Cl,2 197/18 B, 17 /42 A Sound confining Cover for mounting on thehousing [51] Int. Cl. B4lJ 29/02 f t l H h th [58] Field of Search197/60, 180, 186 R, 186 A, F Y" lf S l i .erem l97/186 178/42 orlnsertlon into hoes 1n e typewriter ou smg, a link on fh/ cover forengagmg the ball actuatmg tab within tne' 'iousing, said link includinga portion exter- [56] References Clted nal of said cover so that saidbail can be manipulated UNITED STATES PATENTS from outside of saidhousing, and a door hingedly atl,422,433 7/1922 Fries l97/l86 B t hed tothe remainder of the cover for permitting 1,519,224 2/1924 snckneym197/186 B selective access to the area within said cover. 1,578,9353/1926 Stickney 197/186B 1,656,268 l/l928 Daniel 197/186 B 18 Claims, 11Drawing Figures 1a a I 75 27 Z 2 20 I 7 22 l 29 52 49/6/47 1 my 52, 6/as 2 43 '44 l 1 52 4s *1 .33 Z67 5] v a;

Sheet 2 0f 3 Oct. 14, 1975 US. Patant U.S. Patent )ct.14,1975 Sheet3of33,912,069

SOUND CONFINING TYPEWRITER COVER The present invention relates to animproved sound confining cover for mounting on the housing of atypewriter.

By way of background, there are numerous typewriters in the field whichare used in conjunction with magnetic memory devices. In typewriters ofthis type data on a magnetic tape or card in conjunction with anelectronic circuit causes the typewriter to operate automatically. Atypewriter operating under these circumstances is extremely noisy, andwhen a bank of typewriters in a single room are operatingsimultaneously, a very high noise level is produced which can be quitedistracting to other workers in the general area. In ad dition, thereare ordinary typewriters in the field which do not have sound-confiningcovers and for which it may be desirable to provide a sound-confiningcover.

It is accordingly the primary object of the present invention to providea sound-confining cover which can be installed on typewriters in thefield in an extremely simple and expedient manner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sound-confiningcover for mounting on the housing of a typewriter, said cover includingstructure which permits the manipulation of the typewriter bail fromoutside of the cover, thereby obviating the necessity for entering thecover for this purpose.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedsound-confining cover for mounting on the housing of a typewriter, saidcover being easily mounted and demounted from the typewriter housingwithout the use of tools so as to permit access to certain internalparts of the typewriter, as required.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedsound-confining cover for mounting on the housing of a typewriter, saidcover including a door thereon which permits selective limited access tothe area within the cover, as may be required during operation, withoutrequiring that the entire cover be demounted for this purpose. Otherobjects and attendant advantages of the present invention will readilybe perceived hereafter.

The improved sound-confining cover of the present invention is formounting on the housing of a typewriter having an opening therein forpermitting paper to be supplied to the operating elements of saidtypewriter and having a bail for holding said paper against the platenof said typewriter and a bail actuating tab coupled to said bailcomprising cover means for substantially completely covering saidopening and causing said bail and bail actuating tab to be enclosedwithin said housing, mounting means for mounting said cover means onsaid housing, and hail actuating means including a first portion withinsaid cover means for moving said bail toward and away from said platenand a second portion outside of said housing for manual manipulation. Inaddition, the cover means may include door means for selectivelypermitting access to the area within said cover means. The variousaspects of the present invention will be more fully understood when thefollowing portions of the specifications are read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view showing the improved sound confiningtypewriter cover in position on a typewriter;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view, with portions brokenaway, taken substantially along line 22 of FIG. 1 and showing the doorof the cover in both a closed and an open position;

FIG. 2A is a cross sectional view taken substantially along line 2A2A ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially alongline 3-3 of FIG. 2 and showing various details of construction of thesound-confining cover and the bail actuating link;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially alongline 4-4 of FIG. 2 and showing further details of construction of thesound-confining cover and the bail actuating link;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially alongline 55 of FIG. 1 and showing the relationship of the sound-confiningcover door to the opening in the typewriter housing and also showing thestructure on the cover which is used to guide paper leaving the platen;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan view, similar to FIG. 1 but showing amodified form typewriter cover which does not possess a door forpermitting access to the area within the cover;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially alongline 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partially in crosssection, taken substantially along line 88 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partially in crosssection, taken substantially along line 99 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially alongline 1010 of FIG. 6 and showing the relationship between the coverretaining tab and the portion of the typewriter housing with which itcoacts.

The improved sound-confining cover 10 preferably is fabricated fromclear, transparent plastic for mounting on typewriter 9 and includesside walls 11 and 12 having rearwardly sloping upper edges 13 and 14,respectively, and downwardly sloping forward edges 15 and 16,respectively. An upper panel 17 has its opposite ends 18 and 19 suitablysecured, as by cement, to the adjacent portions of edges 13 and 14,respectively. A door portion 20 has an upper panel 21 which is inalignment with panel 17 when the door 20 is in a closed position. Door20 also includes a front panel 22 which is formed integrally with and isa continuation of panel 21. Panel 22 extends at substantially a rightangle to panel 21. When door 20 is in the closed, solid-line position ofFIGS. 2 and 5, the end portions of the lower edge portion 23 of panel 22rests on adjacent portions 24 and 25 of typewriter housing 26 (FIG. 1)while the central portion of edge 23 fits closely to edge 27 (FIG. 5) oftypewriter housing 26. When door 20 is closed, the outer end portions ofdoor panel 21 rests on edges 13 and 14 of side panels 11 and 12,respectively, and the end portions of front panel 22 rests on edgeportions 15 and 16 of side panels 11 and 12, respectively.

The ability of door 20 to move from the closed position shown in solidlines in FIGS. 2 and 5 to the open position shown in dotted lines ispossible because door 20 is attached to panel 17 by means of spacedhinges 28 which suitably attach door 20 to panel 17. It is to be notedthat when door 20 is closed, the adjacent longitudinal edges of panels17 and 21 abut each other at 29 throughout their length, therebyeffectively causing panel 17 and door 20 to be equivalent to a singleunbroken unit. Door is opened for the purpose of correcting the paperbeing typed on by means of correcting tape, as may be required whenusing a conventional typewriter. The door also permits any access whichmay be required for a typewriter associated with a memory device.

For the purpose of mounting cover 10 on typewriter housing 26, pins and31 are mounted on each of side panels 11 and 12, as shown in FIGS. 2 and5. Each pin 31 has a threaded end portion 32 which is threadablyreceived in side panels 11 and 12. A nut portion 33, which is adjacentportion 32, limits the amount that portion 32 is threaded into the sidepanels and also receives the wrench for turning pin 31. Mergingoutwardly from nut portion 33 is a split stem 34 which is divided intofour resilient quadrants 35 which can move toward each other when stem34 is forced through aperture or bore 36 in housing 26. At this point itis to be noted that bores 36 and 37 are drilled into housing 26, ashousing 26 does not have these drilled bores as originally fabricated.At this point it is to be noted that pins 30 are equivalent in allrespects to pins 31 and therefore a detailed description thereof will beomitted in the interest of brevity. However, pins 30 differ from pins 31in that they are of a much smaller size. Pins 30 and 31 are known in thetrade as banana pins.

In order to install cover 10 on housing 26, pins 31 are inserted firstinto bores 36 while pins 30 are held above housing 26 and thereafer thecover 10 is rocked in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. 2 until pins30 are fully seated within bores 37. The quadrants 35 of pins 31 andequivalent structure of pins 30 will be biased against the sides oftheir respective bores because of their resiliency, thereby producing asnug fit of cover 10 on the housing.

The typewriter 9 includes a plurality of operating parts including aball 39 and a platen 40 around which paper 41 is threaded in theconventional manner. In this respect it can be seen from FIG. 5 that thepaper is guided between typewriter portion 43 and platen 40, and ittherefore passes between typewriter portion 43 and panel 44 of cover 10.In this respect panel 44 has its opposite end portions 45 secured as bycementing to edges 46 and 47 of side panels 11 and 12, respectively. Aspace 48 is located between edge 49 of panel 17 and top edge 50 of panel44 for substantially the entire length of these members to permit thepaper 41 leaving platen 40 to pass out of cover 10.

In order to hold paper 41 against platen 40, a bail 51 is provided. Thisbail includes a rod 52 which mounts a plurality of spaced'cylindricalrollers 53 which bear against the paper so as to hold it in position onthe platen when bail 51 is in the solid-line position shown in FIGS. 1and 5. However, in order to position the paper 41 properly againstplaten 40, bail 51 must be moved from the solid-line position of FIG. 5to the dotted-line position shown therein. This is possible because apair of links 54 on opposite ends of rod 52 are pivoted at 55 relativeto the typewriter frame 54.

In order to permit pivoting of bail 51 from the solidline position tothe dotted-line position of FIG. 5, a bail actuating link 57 is providedso as to permit the manipulation of bail 51 from the outside of cover10. To this end link 57 includes a forked end portion 58 having a space59 between tines 60. A tab 61 forms a conventional part of bail 51 andit is this tab which is conventionally used to shift bail 51 between thesolid and dotted line positions of FIG. 5 when cover 10 is not beingused. However, cover 10 will obstruct access to tab 61 when cover 10 isin position. Accordingly, since tines straddle tab 61, when link 57 ismoved to the left to the dotted line position in FIG. 2, bail 51 willmove to the dotted-line position in FIG. 5. In order to effect suchmovement, link 57 includes a knob 62 rigidly affixed to stem 63 which isa continuation of the central portion 64 of link 57. Thus, by graspingknob 62 and moving it to the left in FIG. 2, the bail 51 will be pulledaway from platen 40, and by moving knob 62 to its solid-line position inFIG. 2, bail 51 will press against paper 41 and cause it to line againstplaten 40.

At this point it is to be noted that knob 62 is contoured at 65 and 66for ease of handling by the typewriter operator. The space 59 betweentines 60 essentially provides a lost-motion connection with tab 61 so asto permit relative movement therebetween while link 57 is beingmanipulated. The lost-motion connection provides a convenient manner ofcoupling link 57 and tab 61 without the use of complex structure. Atthis point it is to be noted that central portion 64 of link 57 rides inslot 64' in side panel 12. Slot 64 is provided by leaving this spaceblank after cementing a lower elongated member 67 to the inside of sidepanel 12 in the manner shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Link 57 is retained inslot 64 because side wall 12 is loosely sandwiched between side 66' ofknob 62 and side 67' of lug 68' having its lower edge 69 cemented tocentral portion 64 of link 57.

Whenever access is desired to the inside of cover 10, door 20 needmerely be swung from its solid-line position shown in FIG. 2 to itsdotted-line position. This'obviates the necessity to remove cover 10 formost of the time that access is required, as for straightening paper 41,or correcting the paper, or for any other reason. However, under certaincircumstances complete removal of cover 10 will be required. In order todo this, all that need be done is to pivot cover 10 in a clockwisedirection in FIG. 2 so as to cause pins 30 to pull out of bores 37 inwhich they are located. Thereafter, cover 10 is lifted so as to causepins 31 to move out of bores 36. To reinstall cover 10, the aboveprocedure is reversed, as described in detail above. When cover 10 isinstalled, the lowermost edges of panels 11 and 12 will seat firmly onhousing 26.

In FIGS. 6-10 an alternate embodiment of the present invention isdisclosed. The cover is essentially identical in all respects to cover10 of FIGS. 1-5 except that it does not have a door. In addition, itutilizes a different type of securing arrangement for attaching it tothe housing 26 of the typewriter 9.

Cover 75 includes side panels 76 and 77 and a bent panel 78 havingdownwardly sloping portions 79 and 80 secured to the edges (notnumbered) of side panels 76 and 77. A tab 81 has a first portionsecured, as by cement, to edge 82 of panel 80. The free end of tab 81 isadapted to underlie the edge of typewriter housing 26 adjacent thereto,as can be seen from FIGS. 6 and 10. After tab 81 has been inserted undertypewriter housing 26, the cover 75 is swung in a clockwise direction inFIG. 8 until pins 83 extending downwardly from side panels 76 and 77enter suitable bores which have been drilled in housing 26, as describedin detail above. The cover 75 will remain in position for as long as isdesired and the bail of the typewriter can be manipulated by the use oflink 84 which is identical to link 57 described in detail above in FIGS.1-5.

Except for the structure described above relative to FIGS. 6-10, it willbe understood that cover 75 is essentially identical to cover 10 ofFIGS. 1-5.

Since the entire cover is made out of clear, transparent plastic, allparts of the typewriter and the paper which is being typed on can beobserved by the typewriter operator. With the embodiment of FIGS. l-5,the door may be selectively opened as required for access to the areawithin the cover. In the embodiment of FIGS. 6-10, all parts of thetypewriter can be viewed through the clear, transparent plastic cover75. However, in the event it becomes necessary to obtain access to thearea within the cover, all that need be done is to pivot the cover in acounterclockwise direction in FIG. 8 so as to cause pins 83 to move outof the apertures in which they are located and thereafter slide thecover 75 slightly to the right in FIG. 8 so as to cause tab 81 to becomedisengaged from the underside of housing 26.

It has been found in operation that the covers of the present inventionare manifestly capable of achieving the above enumerated objects becausethey tend to confine the sound within the typewriter so that it does nothave as great a disturbing effect on the environment as it wouldotherwise have if the typewriter was uncovered. The sound is muffled toa very low percentage of what it would otherwise be without the cover ofthe present invention.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendisclosed, it will be understood that the present invention is notlimited thereto but may be oth- -erwise embodied within the scope of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A sound-confining cover for mounting on the housing of a typewriterhaving an opening therein for permitting paper to be supplied to theoperating elements of said typewriter and having a bail for holding saidpaper against the platen of said typewriter and a bail actuating tabcoupled to said bail comprising cover means for substantially completelycovering said opening and causing said bail and said ball actuating tabto be enclosed within said housing, mounting means for mounting saidcover means on said housing, and bail actuating means including a firstportion within said cover means for moving said bail toward and awayfrom said platen and a second portion outside of said housing for manualmanipulation.

2. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim I wherein said firstportion of said bail actuating means comprises a forked end foreffecting a lost-motion connection with said bail actuating tab withinsaid cover means, and wherein said second portion of said bail ac-.tuating means comprises a knob, and a central portion connecting saidfirst and second portions.

3. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 2 including a slot insaid cover means, and wherein said central portion rides in said slot.

4. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 1 wherein said mountingmeans include attachment means for detachably mounting said cover meanson said housing.

5. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 4 including slot meansin said housing for guiding said paper relative to said housing.

6. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 4 wherein saidattachment means include pin means on said cover means and bore means insaid housing.

7. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 6 wherein saidattachment means include tab means on said cover means for engaging anunder portion of said housing.

8. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 1 including door meanson said cover means for selectively permitting access to the area withinsaid cover means.

9. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 8 wherein said mountingmeans include attachment means for detachably mounting said cover meanson said housing.

10. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 1 including slot meansin said housing for guiding said paper relative to said housing.

11. A sound-confining cover for mounting on a housing of a typewriterhaving an opening therein for permitting paper to be supplied to theoperating elements of said typewriter comprising cover means forsubstantially completely covering said opening, mounting means forsecuring said cover means to said housing, and door means on said covermeans for selectively permitting access to the area within said covermeans while permitting the remainder of said cover means to remain inits normal installed position on said housing.

12. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 11 wherein said doormeans comprises a portion of said cover means, and hinge means forattaching said door means to the remainder of said cover means.

13. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 11 wherein saidmounting means includes attachment means for detachably securing saidcover means to said housing.

14. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 13 wherein saidattachment means comprises pin means for insertion into bore means insaid housing.

15. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 11 including slotmeans in said housing for guiding said paper relative to said housing.

16. A sound-confining cover for mounting on the housing of a typewriterhaving an opening therein for permitting paper to be supplied to theoperating elements of the typewriter comprising cover means forsubstantially completely covering said opening, and attachment means onsaid cover means for detachably attaching said cover means to saidhousing, said attachment means comprising a plurality of pins forreception in mating apertures in said housing.

17. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 16 wherein saidattachment means includes tab means for engaging said housing.

18. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 16 including slotmeans in said housing for guiding said paper relative to said housing.

1. A sound-confining cover for mounting on the housing of a typewriterhaving an opening therein for permitting paper to be supplied to theoperating elements of said typewriter and having a bail for holding saidpaper against the platen of said typewriter and a bail actuating tabcoupled to said bail comprising cover means for substantially completelycovering said opening and causing said bail and said bail actuating tabto be enclosed within said housing, mounting means for mounting saidcover means on said housing, and bail actuating means including a firstportion within said cover means for moving said bail toward and awayfrom said platen and a second portion outside of said housing for manualmanipulation.
 2. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 1 whereinsaid first portion of said bail actuating means comprises a forked endfor effecting a lost-motion connection with said bail actuating tabwithin said cover means, and wherein said second portion of said bailactuating means comprises a knob, and a central portion connecting saidfirst and second portions.
 3. A sound-confining cover as set forth inclaim 2 including a slot in said cover means, and wherein said centralportion rides in said slot.
 4. A sound-confining cover as set forth inclaim 1 wherein said mounting means include attachment means fordetachably mounting said cover means on said housing.
 5. Asound-confining cover as set forth in claim 4 including slot means insaid housing for guiding said paper relative to said housing.
 6. Asound-confining cover as set forth in claim 4 wherein said attachmentmeans include pin means on said cover means and bore means in saidhousing.
 7. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 6 wherein saidattachment means include tab means on said cover means for engaging anunder portion of said housing.
 8. A sound-confining cover as set forthin claim 1 including door means on said cover means for selectivelypermitting access to the area within said cover means.
 9. Asound-confining cover as set forth in claim 8 wherein said mountingmeans include attachment means for detachably mounting said cover meanson said housing.
 10. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 1including slot means in said housing for guiding said paper relative tosaid housing.
 11. A sound-confining cover for mounting on a housing of atypewriter having an opening therein for permitting paper to be suppliedto the operating elements of said typewriter comprising cover means forsubstantially completely covering said opening, mounting means forsecuring said cover means to said housing, and door means on said covermeans for selectively permitting access to the area within said covermeans while permitting the remainder of said cover means to remain inits normal installed position on said housing.
 12. A sound-confiningcover as set forth in claim 11 wherein said door means comprises aportion of said cover means, and hinge means for attaching said doormeans to the remainder of said cover means.
 13. A sound-confining coveras set forth in claim 11 wherein said mounting means includes attachmentmeans for detachably securing said cover means to said housing.
 14. Asound-confining cover as set forth in claim 13 wherein said attachmentmeans comprises pin means for insertion into bore means in said housing.15. A sound-confining cover as set forth in claim 11 including slotmeans in said housing for guiding said paper relative to said housing.16. A sound-confining cover for mounting on the housing of a typewriterhaving an opening therein for permitting paper to be supplied to theoperating elements of the typewriter comprising cover means forsubstantially completely covering said opening, and attachment means onsaid cover means for detachably attaching said cover means to saidhousing, said attachment means comprising a plurality of pins forreception in mating apertures in said housing.
 17. A sound-confiningcover as set forth in claim 16 wherein said attachment means includestab means for engaging said housing.
 18. A sound-confining cover as setforth in claim 16 including slot means in said housing for guiding saidpaper relative to said housing.